Boris Johnson: his political career so far in 60 seconds

As the Mayor of London announces that he is to stand as an MP at the 2015
general election, The Telegraph looks back at his rise to power

Video by Olivia Bolton and Jon Laurence

3:40PM BST 06 Aug 2014

Boris Johnson has announced that he hopes to combine his role as Mayor of London with a return to Parliament.

It is not the first time that he has held down two major roles at once - when first elected as an MP he continued to serve as editor of the Spectator.

When he steps down as London Mayor in 2016, Mr Johnson would be eligible to serve on the Tory front bench.

He was previously sacked from his role as Shadow Arts Minister for lying to the then party leader Michael Howard about an extra-marital affair, dismissing the allegations as an "inverted pyramid of piffle".

Despite having stated publicly that he has "as much chance of being reincarnated as an olive" as of becoming Prime Minister, he is thought to harbour ambitions of one day reaching Number 10.